The study—published in the Sociology of Health & Illness this month—found that youth with multiple disabilities want to experience freedom, speed, risk and time alone.

For example, one young man said the safety belt on his wheelchair didn’t fit with his spontaneous personality. “My whole life, I’ve been wearing this thing,” he told researchers. “I’m the kind of person that would take risks. I don’t want to just live my life as a boring person—seeing everyone do awesome stuff and me doing nothing.” His idea of fun was being pulled in the trailer of an ATV “because they were letting me go free.”

These activities are “not necessarily what we would prioritize in rehabilitation,” says lead scientist Barbara Gibson, who is a physiotherapist.

The study looked at how settings shape what we do—with the understanding that spaces aren’t static, empty containers, but fluid arrangements of people, furniture, technologies and social expectations that can enable or restrict what happens in them.

Participants included two groups rarely studied: those who require 24-7 medical care and may use ventilators and those who have little to no speech.

Youth were observed doing two activities they chose in the home or community. During the first activity they were taught to use a camera to photograph their experiences. In the second activity, a research assistant observed and discussed the activity with them as it was videotaped it. Participants also participated in face-to-face and electronic interviews. Nineteen young people aged 14 to 23 took part.

All participants said doing practical or fun things outside their home was much more challenging than inside—because people outside the family didn’t know how to help with medical or personal needs or weren’t willing to slow down to communicate with them. Activities at home were easier and more enjoyable because of connections with family members who got into a rhythm of facilitating them.

The wheelchair was seen as something freeing—for example, allowing a participant to go to the park alone—but also constricting, because of how the safety strap suggested the user was at risk or somehow lacking.

Because many activities for the youth relied on constant support from a parent, breaks from this connection—for example, when a personal support worker, friend or family member came by to visit or go out with the participant—was interpreted as freeing.

Rather than valuing independence over interdependence, the researchers suggest rehab clinicians look at how human connections in specific spaces enable positive activities and experiences. “…At times facilitating a dependency may be a more fruitful rehab goal than enabling independence,” they write.

For example, they note that while using a voice device will give a young person a higher rehab score in “independent communication,” many participants communicate much more efficiently and less laboriously through a parent or family member.

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